Maimane joined the council meeting and was at one time forced to intervene in a scuffle between Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality MMC for Transport, Rano Kayser, and an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor.

While addressing the media, Maimane said that the EFF, the African National Congress (ANC) realized that they didn’t have enough numbers to win the motions, which explains the sabotage.

He added that as the opposition parties continued to cause a commotion, it became clear that they do not care about the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay.

The chaos also resulted in the delay of the debate on the adjustment budget.

“It is clear that this is an alliance led by councillor [Mongameli] Bobani of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), a clear coalition alliance of the ANC, EFF and the UDM, which undermines the people of the city,” Maimane described.

“If they were true democrats, then they should have pushed to table the motion and voted today as well as accept results without any delays.”

He said that he had learned one lesson out of this – to deal only with principled parties, which is why they have never joined a coalition of the ANC and the EFF.

Maimane said that the chaos at the Council is a clear indication that the three parties – UDM, EFF, and ANC, have corrupted each other in an alliance that seeks to undermine local service delivery.

He also highlighted that he was not part of any scuffle, but just happened to be in a room with people, who lack principles.